Electromagnetic switch.



H. W. SHEEHY. BLBGTROMAGNBTIG SWITCH.. APPL'IOATION YILED AUG.31, 19710.

Patented Aug. 22, 1911.

V2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

H. W.v SHEBHY. ELECTROMAGNBTIG SWITGEI. lAPPLICATION FILED AUG. 31l 1910.

1,001,313. 111111111111 Aug. 22, 1911.

` 2 summa-Bamm.

J9 ff wituuno HARRY W. SHEEHY, OF AKRON, OHIO.

.l ELECTBOMAGNETIC SWITCH.

Specification o! Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 22, 1911.

Original application iled )lay 25, 1910, Serial No. 563,419. Divided and this application iled August-31,

Serial No. 579,914.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, HARRY W. SHEEHY, citizen .of the United lStat/es, residing at Akron, in the county of Summit and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements 4in Electromagnetic Switches, of which the following is a specification.

This invention coinprehends certain' new and useful improvements in circuit controlling. apparatus designed 'for use particularly in connection with electric railway switches, the present invention relating primarily to an electromagnetic switch.

The primary object of the invention is a simple, durable construction of magnetic Switch which will be capable of being cheaply manufactured andthe parts readily assembled and which will not be liable to get out of order.

Theinvention also has for its object an im roved construction of an electromagnetic switch desi ned particularly as above noted for use wit electrically operated street or other electric railway-cars, the same embodying a very simple arrangement of contact bar carried by the movable core of an electromagnet and designed to engage a contact rail orthe vlike to close the main circuit for o rating the switch points or frogs. And the invention also has for. its object to generally improve this class of devices and render them-simple in construction as well as durable arid not liable to get out of order., and to also render them more commercially desirable. l r

With these and other objects in view as will more full appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in certain constructions, arrangements and comblna- `tions of the parts that I shall hereinafter fully describe and claim.

For a full understanding of the invention,

reference is to lbe had to the following description and accompanying drawings in' which: l

Figure 1 is a side elevat1on--of a portlon of a street railwa car equipped with the im r'ovements of t e'invention'; Fi 2 is'an enliirged vertical sectional view o an 1inroved electroma etic switch; Fi' '3, 4

and 5 illustrate etails of,4 the ,switc Fig'.

6 is a longitudinal view of two of the electromagnetic switches; Fig. 7 is a detail view of the contactr bar employed, the same' only partly shownin section, and partly broken away. Fig. 8 is a detail side view of a portion of a contact bar hereinafter more specifically described.

lorresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated 1n all the views of the accompanying drawings by the same reference characters.

In theafpaesent embodiment of my invention, the same is shown as part .of an electrically. actuated railway switch operating mechanism which includes conductor rails S and M, indicating that when the rail S is .engaged by one of the operating or contact barscarried by the car, the switch orv frog will be moved so that the car can take the siding, and that when the conductor rail M 1s engaged by the other contact bar, the switch will be moved from the car to continue on the main track or move over from the siding. In this connection, it ,may be stated "that the present case is a divisional application of my co-pending. application for patent for circuit controllin apparatus filed on or about the 25th day o May, 1910, Serial No. 563,419. Each of the electro l magnetic switches disclosed in the copending application ust mentionedembodies the subject inatter of the present inventionand it will therefore be only necessary to describe one' of the switches in detail.

Referring now to the drawing, it will be noted that each of the switches embodies a preferably cylindrical casi `1 secured to the support designed to hdl'it as bvoppositely projecting pairs "0f,'aperture lugs 2, said casing being formed at its lower end with a screw-threaded opening 3 and being provided at its upper end with equall spaced outstandin segmentall lugs`4. A arrel 5 is desi ne to fit within the easing 1, the barrel -ing formed on its exterior wall in termediate of its ends with screw `threads 6 desi ed to engage the threadsofthe openin 3, w ereby the-lower end of the'ba'rrel- Wi protrude to some extent below the-bottom of the casing 1. The rts -are-,preferublyso proportionedy that W n theyj-d'ljnatliu@ @ne nected, the *annular outstanding 7 which is' formed on the up 'o' the barrel lies' .subst-antiallyfa the" up per edge ofthe casi 1. mgnetic' coil 8 encircles the barrelpreferably fills' the s ace between =the exteriorwall oithe han;

theadjoining or interior wall of'4 signed to receive a contact- :be of any desired length, according to the rethe casing 1, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 2, the coil ,extending from the flange 7 to-the bottom of the casing 1.

A cylindrical cap 9 is adapted to fit over the top of the casing 1 with its inclosed bar-- quiremen'ts of the case. The contact bar 18 extends entirely through the stem 11 and downwardly entirely through the barrel 5, lprojecting out of the lower end of the barrel and through an opening 14 formed therein.

A coil expansion spring 15 encirclcs the contact bar 13 and is mounted within the barrel 5, the lower end of the spring bearing against the bottom of the barrel and the upper end of the spring bearing against the lower end of the stem 11, such end of the stem being received and guided in the upper end of the barrel 5, as shown. It will thus be understood, that in the normal position of -t-he parts with the magnets deenergized, the spring 15 `.vill be permitted to exert its full tension and hold the cap 9 at the upper limit of its movement, that is, with the lugs 10 in engagement with the lugs 4. Upon the energization of the magnet, the stem 11 willmove as a core, and be drawn downwardly so as to compress the spring and at the same time carry the contact bar 13 downwardly, it being noted that said contact bar is connected to the cap as by a bolt! or pin 16 'which passes throu `h anyone of a series of openings 17 forme in the. Y bar at the upper end of the latter and' through upright ears 18 which are formed I on the top of the cap 9.

The contact bar 13is received at its vlower end in theupper end of a fork 19, andis preferably increased in liber insulatin sections 20. The bar 13 is secured within t o prongs of the fork by upper and Tlfwer transverse bolts 21 and 22 fiber insulatingbushings 23 surrounding the bolts asclearly illustrated -in Fig. 7. The fork 19 carries a roller 24 which is journaled in the lower end of the fork and which is adapted for contact with the conductor rail.

The two electromagnetic switches which are used to illustrate one application of my invention arei'designat'ed A and A and are controlled and operated by a hand operated .switch'eompriai-nga base plate 25 which is Aslightly olfset therefrom.

shown as secured in a vertical position to the dash board D of a car. The base 25 has four contact members connected thereto, said members being arranged in pairs between the opposite sideedges of the base and prefspring plates havingone the base and the other These members are designated 26 and 26x11 and 27 and 27, A conductinY wire 28 connects the Contact member 26 with one end of the coil 8 of the magnet A as at 29 and a conducting wire 28 similarly connects the contact member 26a with one end of the coil 8 of the magnet A as indicated at 29a. The other ends-of erably embodying end attached to the two coils are grounded as by wires 30 l connected thereto and to the car truck. The contact member 27 is connected by a conductor wire 31 to the bolt 21 of one of the forks 19, and the contact member 27 a is similarly connected by a conductor wire 31'1 to the bolt'21 of the other fork 19. To close the various circuits,I have provided aswitch handle 32 which is journaled, and .supported for a laterally swinging movement on the base plate 25. A movement of the switch handle' in one direction will cause it to engage the contact member 26, and a continued movement of the switch handle in the same direction will cause it to enga-ge the contact member 27. A movement of the switch.

handle in the opposite direction will first cause it to contact with. the member 26, and a continued movement in this last named di rection will cause the switch handle to contact lwith the member 27 This is due to the fact that the contact members 26 and 26a are longer than the complementary ymembers 27 and 27a, extending inwardly 'toward the middle of the base plate farther than said members 27 and 27a.

41 designates the feed wire which may receive its current from any suitable source of supply, said feed wire being operatively connected to the switch handle 32 and thecurrent being thereby conducted to the members above described, when any one of them is overlapped by the switch handle.

In the practical use of my improved electromagnetic switches in the application of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, when the motor-man desires to actuate theA track switch say for the siding, he will move the lswitch handle in the required direction which will rst Idrive said; handle intoengagement with, say, the contact member 26, and the current will carries it, to move downwardly, w ereby the` contact bar is carried downwardly, to effect its engagement with-the conductor rail below- .then flow from the feed 'wire 41 through i it. continued movement of lthe switch handle 32 in the same direction will cause the current to flow through the contact United States," #949,404 issued to me -Feb ruary 15, 1910. Obviously, the movement of the switch handle, in the opposite direction' will firstfenergize the electromagnet circuit, andthen close the actuating circuit for moving the switch point in the opposite direction. In' either event, itis clear that there is no current in the fork and wheel.

until after it has made the proper connection with the conductor rail, all sparking at 'the point o'flcontacts being thereby prevented.

n the reverse movement to open the circuit which operates the switch oint of the fork, the latter will be o rated` fore thezmagnet circuit, and all lia ility to the formation of arcs and destructive burning of the contact will be precluded both when the circuits are closed and when they Iare being opened. In-

order to o n thepcircuits, it isonly necessary for t e operator to release the switch handle 32, whereupon the spring arms 34 'will act to swing'y the handle back to its Havin thus described the invention, what 1s claime as new 1s: l

1. In an apparatus of the character described, an electromagnet coin risingva casv ing, a barrel secured withiny t e casing and spaced from the walls thereof, a coil m the' i space between the barrel and lthe casing, the

casingi s ace segmental lugs, a cap adapted tobe sipped over said end of the casing, andv formed with correspondinginterlocking lugs pfui olthil patent may be obtained for .ive cents each,` by addrening the Commissioner-ot Patents,

ing provide beingv provided at one end withA whereby to limit the movement of the cap on the casin in one direction, the ca bewith a stem movable within the barrel, and a contact-bar secured to th'e stem and extending through the barrel.

y2. In an apparatus of the character described, an electromagnet comprising a casing, a barrel secured within the caslng and spaced from the walls thereof, a coil 1n the space between the barrel and the casing, the casing being provided at one end with outstandingspaced segmental lu s, a cap adapted to be slipped over theen of the casing and formed with oppositely extending interlocking lugs whereby to limit the movement of1 the cap on the casing in one direction, the cap being provided with a stem movable Within the barrel, a contact bar extending through the stem and barrel, a spring encircling said ,bar and bearing against the stem and the -bottom of the barrel,.the ca'p being provided with lugs and the contact bar being provided withan opening anda bolt passed through said opening and lugs whereby to secure the contact bar to the cap.

3. An electromagnet comprising a casing formed with a screw-threaded bottom openingwa barrel mounted in saidcasing and spaced from the walls thereof, and having a screw-threaded connection with the bottom opening yof the casing, a coil mounted with-` in the casing between the barrel and the longitudine movement on the casing, and

provided with .a stem extending down into the barrehand a contact bar secured to the ca and mountedinthe barrel.,l i

` n testimony whereof I aix my. signature in presence of two witnesses. 1 l :HARRY W. SHEEHY.v [L. s.]

Witnesses: t

CHARLES HULFINCH,

GEO. W. CARRY.

wasmngtnn, `11. c." 

